(This is CNBC Pro’s live coverage of Wednesday’s analyst calls and Wall Street chatter. Please refresh every 20-30 minutes to view the latest posts.) United Airlines and Apple were among the stocks being talked about by analysts on Wednesday. Shares of United got an upgrade to buy at Jefferies, which sees upside of nearly 30% for the company. Bank of America, meanwhile, reiterated Apple as a top pick â citing potential upside from consumers upgrading to AI-enabled phones. Check out the latest calls and chatter below. All times ET. 5:41 a.m.: Jefferies upgrades United Airlines to a buy rating United Airlines is set to continue leading its peers, according to Jefferies. The investment bank upgraded the airline to buy from hold, lifting its price target to $65 from $54. The new target implies that United Airlines stock could rise 28% from their Tuesday closing price. As a catalyst, analyst Sheila Kahyaoglu pointed to United Airlines’ investments in its product offering. Through United Next , the airline carrier aims to introduce more than 800 aircrafts to its fleet. International margins, which are currently higher than domestic, should also help serve to boost the stock upwards. However, Kahyaoglu anticipates that this trend will flip around sometime this year. “UAL’s decision to retain its entire widebody fleet over the pandemic helped achieve record international profits in 2023 with significantly larger schedules than its peers and 2019 levels,” she wrote. “With international strength set to normalize some time in 2024, the domestic strategy with United Next comes into focus, with MAX-10 delays pausing the upgauging momentum.” As additional positives for the stock, Kahyaoglu cited a shareholder-friendly management team and increased free cash flow generation compared to this time last year. Shares of United Airlines are up 23% on the year. â Lisa Kailai Han 5:41 a.m.: Bank of America reiterates Apple as a top pick Apple shares could get a boost as consumers upgrade to AI-enabled phones, according to Bank of America. Analyst Wamsi Mohan reiterated his view that Apple is a top pick, maintaining his buy rating and price target of $230. That forecast implies upside of 21% over the next 12 months. “We view the upcoming AI enabled phones (IntelliPhones) to drive a multi-year upgrade cycle similar to the step function improvement driven by the introduction of smartphones,” Mohan said. “With an installed base of over 4bn smartphones, we see the opportunity for the next upgrade cycle to be once in a decade type of event.” Apple has lagged other major tech names this year, losing 1.3%. Nvidia, meanwhile, has soared 130%. AAPL YTD mountain AAPL year to date â Fred Imbert
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